Excellence in Education Summit

• Explore innovative examples of how K-12 and higher education are reinventing the way education is delivered in a rapidly changing environment.
• Gain a shared understanding of educational barriers that exist, especially for children from low-income families.
• Explore more ways businesses can connect and partner with education and showcase successful initiatives in Iowa schools.
• Learn about Future Ready Iowa – the State’s newly released blueprint for educating/training the future workforce.
• Discover successful initiatives that are addressing the growing issue of student loan debt.

Mike Petrilli is president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, research fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution, Executive Editor of Education Next and a Distinguished Senior Fellow for Education Commission of the States. An award-winning writer, he is the author of The Diverse Schools Dilemma and editor of Education for Upward Mobility. Petrilli has published opinion pieces in the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg View and Slate and appears frequently on television and radio. Petrilli helped to create the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Innovation and Improvement, the Policy Innovators in Education Network and, long, long ago, Young Education Professionals. He serves on the advisory boards of the Association of American Educators, MDRC and Texas Aspires. He lives with his family in Bethesda, Maryland.

12:45 - 1:00 p.m.  |  State of Education in Iowa – Ryan Wise, Director, Iowa Department of Education

1:15 - 2:00 p.m.  |   Innovative Business/Education Partnerships

• Aiddy Phomvisay, Director, Des Moines Public Schools Central Campus
• Brad Manard, Superintendent, Boone Community School District
• Dan Cox, Superintendent, Charles City Community School District
• Moderated By: Dr. David Wilkerson, Government Relations Director, School Administrators of Iowa

• Governor Kim Reynolds, State of Iowa
• Dan Houston, Chairman, President and CEO, Principal

• Rob Miller, Executive Director, Iowa College Access Network (ICAN)
• Greg Nichols, Senior Vice President - Public Affairs and Community Relations, Iowa Student Loan

​3:25 - 3:55 p.m.  |  Equity in Education: "An Iowa Perspective" with Dave Ford, Director, Heartland Area Education Agency's Postsecondary Readiness and Equity Partnership (PREP)

3:55 - 4:30 p.m.  |  Closing Keynote: "A National Perspective" with Kelly McManus, The Education Trust

Kelly McManus serves as the director of government affairs for The Education Trust, working to leverage policy analysis as well as legislative tactics and strategies to advance The Education Trust’s equity agenda, message and policy proposals at both the federal and state levels. In this position, she works alongside members of the education, civil rights, disability and business communities to push for policies that improve the educational outcomes of our nation’s most vulnerable youth. Prior to joining The Education Trust, Kelly served as the government affairs director for Stand for Children Arizona. Before that, Kelly managed public affairs for Teach For America –Phoenix and also taught middle school English in the School District of Philadelphia. She serves as the Secretary of the Board for Vista College Prep, a high-performing charter school serving low-income students in Phoenix, Ariz.. A native of North Carolina, Kelly holds a master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania in education and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Wake Forest University.